Roof ridge louver ventilator



y 1957 c. c. RoosE ROOF RIDGE LOUVER VENTILATOR I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 15, 1955 FIG.

FIG. 2

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ATTORNEYS July 16, 1957 c. c. RoosE ROOF RIDGE LOUVER VENTILATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 15, 1955 INVENTbR CLARENCE C. ROOSE BYM M 7 "-6 FIG. 3

2,799,214 noon RIDGE LOUVER VENTILATOR Clarence C. Roose, Livonia, Mich.

Application March 15, 1955, Serial No. 494,314 1 Claim. (Cl. 98-42) This invention relates to louver ventilators for the attics and tops of dwellings, garages, factories, barns, hog houses, chicken houses and other buildings; and it relates more particularly to ventilators used on the ridges of the roofs of such building structures. I

One object of the invention isto provide an improved ridge louver ventilator which is highly efficient in all kinds of weather in causing the hot and humid air accumulating under the roof to be siphoned out with no likelihood of rain or snow being admitted.

The invention contemplates a roof ridge ventilator made in one-piece sections telescopically engaged so that the ventilator may extend along the entire length of the ridge or any desired portion or portions thereof, the sections being made of stamped and bent sheets of suitable metal or other material. Another object is to provide a sectional ventilator of this character which will project to only a slight distance above the roof and hence be inconspicuous, and which at the same time will be effective in changing the air conditions beneath the roof with no danger of admitting rain or snow into the attic or top of the building structure.

With the above and other objects and advantages in view, the invention resides in the novel combinations and arrangements of parts and the novel features of construction hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which show the present preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a vertical cross section through the improved ventilator showing it applied to the ridge portion of a roof;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of one half of a blank from which a section of the ventilator is made, with portions of the half of the blank broken away;

Fig. 3 is a side view of portions of two telescoped ventilator sections applied to a roof, portions of the end section being broken away;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the ventilator applied to a roof and showing one way of closing the free end of an end section; and

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing another way in which the free or outer end of an end section may be closed.

Referring more in detail to the drawings the numeral denotes one of the one-piece sections which have bodies of inverted V-shape in cross section and may be of any desired length. While one section may constitute the entire ventilator body, it is usually advisable to have the latter extend substantially throughout the length of the ridge of the roof or along a considerable portion or portions thereof, and hence two or more of the sections 10 are preferably used to form a single ventilator.

The one or more sections of the ridge ventilator body will be applied over an opening along the roof ridge as shown in Fig. l. The usual roof has rafters 12 extending downwardly from the opposite sides of a ridge beam or comb 11 and supporting sheathing 13 to which is ap- 2,799,214 "Patented July 16, 1957 ice plied the outer roof covering 14 which may be shingles,

sheet metal, composition roofing or other material. The sheathing and covering at the top of each side of the roof terminates short of the ridge beam 11 to provide openings 15 for the escape of the hot and humid air which accumulates beneath the roof.

Each section 10 is made from a single piece of thin sheet aluminum, copper,ftin or other metal or even of other material such as one of the modern plastics. The sheet' or blank, one half of which is shown in Fig. 2, is of rectangular shape with parallel side edges 16 and parallel. end edges 17. Along the longitudinal center of the blank, indicated by the broken line 18, or midway of the side edges 16, the blank is folded to give the section its substantially angular or inverted V-shape and form two downwardly diverging top plates 19. The blank is also folded along the broken lines 20, 21 and'22, shown in Fig. 2, these fold lines extending longitudinally and being parallel with the center line 18. Stamped in the blank along the lines 20 are equally spaced openings 23, preferably of U-sliape and of substantial area. Also stamped in the blank along the lines 22 are spaced slots or elongated openings 24. In bending the blank along the lines 20 the two side portions are bent back or inwardly under approximately the lower halves of the top plate portions 19 and the areas along the rows of openings 23 are curved, to provide two bottom plates 25 parallel with and downwardly spaced from the lower or side portions of the plates 19 and curved lower walls 26'which close the lower portions of the spaces or air passages 28 between the plates 19and 25 except for the openings 23. In bending the blank along the longitudinal lines 21and 22 right angular bends are formed to provide upper or inner walls 29 for the spaces 28 and the downwardly and outwardly inclined stop flanges 30 which abut the underfaces of the top plates 19 about midway of their longitudinal edges, as seen in Fig. 1, so that the upper walls 29 support and brace the intermediate portions of thetop walls 19. Thus the openings 24 are disposed above the upper faces of the bottom plates 25 and close to the top plates 19 which form the downwardly and outwardly diverging sides or legs of the V-shaped body. The spaces .28, while extending the length of the section, are small in height but comparatively long in width, that is to say, that the upper walls 29 are spaced a considerable distance from the lower walls 26 so that it is unlikely that any rain or snow entering the openings 23 will reach the openings 24. Since these openings 24 are spaced above the bottoms 25 of the spaces or channels 28, it is virtually impossible for wind to drive any rain into the space beneath the apex 31 of the section.

The bottom plates 25 rest upon the shingles or other covering 14 and may be fastened to the roof by nails driven through the openings 23 or the ventilator section may be secured in any other manner. The above described structure has the further advantage that while the ventilator is V-shaped it is comparatively flat or low in height, and hence lies close to the upper surface of the roof. Since its angle corresponds substantially to that of the roof, it is hardly recognizable as a ventilator, and hence will be much less conspicuous than prior devices which project a considerable distance above the roof top. At the same time the openings 23 and 24 are of sufficient area to permit of the hot and humid air, which accumulates in the attic or under the roof, to be quickly sucked up through the openings 15 by wind blowing toward either side of the roof, the wind of course, entering the ventilator openings 23 on one side and passing out through the openings 23 on the other side. If the ventilator sections are made V-shaped, the angles at the apex 31 will correspond to the most generally used roof angles, but

3 since the sheet material from which sections are made is flexible, there is sufiicient yieldability at the apex or central portion of the top to permit the section to be applied to roofs having slightly different angles than the one for which the section was intended.

When the ventilator extends throughout the length of the ridge, the openings 15, of course, terminate short of the ends of the roof, and the ends of the ventilator may be closed,- as shown in Figs. 3, 4 or 5, or in other ways. Since the ventilator is preferably made long, a plurality of-thesectio'ns 16) are employed and they are telescopically engaged as will be understood on reference to Fig. 3 in which an end '33 of one section 10 is telescoped longitudinally -into the end of another section 10 which is shown as an end section. To close the free or outer end of section 10, that end may be formed with spaced cuts or slits 35 to provide tongues 36 which are bent and slightly overlapped 'as shown. These tongues may be fastened down on the top of the roof by nails 37 driven through them. As seen in Fig. 4, the end of a ventilator section 10 'maybe closed-by forming similar slits suitably spaced along an end edge 17 and bending the tongues thus formed 'at right angles so that the ends of the partially overlapped tongues rest on the roof covering. Or, as shown in Fig. 5, the free end of the end section may be filled by a flanged metal strip or by strips of wood 39 suitably shaped to close the end of the spaces 28 and of the space beneath the apex 31 of the section. These end closure strips may be fastened by nails 40 driven through them and portions of the section and into the roof. If desired a notch 42 may be formed at an end of the section in line with the row of openings 24 so that if that section is to be used as an end section, the wall 29 and flange 30 will terminate short of the portion which is to be slit and bent to form the attaching and closure tongues shown in Figs. 3 and 4 or the portion to receive the closure strip or strips shown in Fig. '5. it will be obvious that the notches 42 also permit of the telescopic engagement of the ends of adjacent sections without undue springing or bending of the metal of one of the sections.

When the device is installed along the ridge of the roof of a dwelling of the less expensive type, it will save the expense of the two louvers usually installed in the end walls of the house, and it will be more effective since it releases the hot air at the place where it accumulates.

From the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it will be seen that novel and advantageous provision has been made for carrying out the objects of the invention, and while preferences have been disclosed, attention is invited to the possibility of making variations within the scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

A roof ventilator section comprising a body portion formed in an inverted V-shape with the sides or legs of the \I extending downwardly and divergingly, the free ends of the legs being turned angularly to form side walls which have longitudinally spaced openings therein, bottom plates parallel with and spaced from the legs, said plates being integral with the free ends of the side walls and extending upwardly therefrom toward the apex of the V to a point located substantially near the midportion of the legs of the V, and inner walls extending from the upper edges of the bottom plates to the under faces of the legs of the V, said inner walls being formed with longitudinally spaced openings.

References Cited in'the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

